KCON 2017 Mexico celebrated its inaugural festival with 33,000 fans coming together for two days to immerse themselves in all things Hallyu at the largest Korean culture convention in the world. Taking place March 17-18 – the first KCON in Latin America – featured musical performances from K-Pop’s biggest stars, including Astro, BTS, Eric Nam, EXID, Infinite H, Monsta X, NCT 127, Red Velvet; specialty programming, including an influencer-led dance workshop; and dozens of vendors that represented some of the best and most sought-after Korean products and food.

"Every time we expand into a new country, the passion of the fans is beyond what we could have imagined. The reaction in Mexico was amazing and we expect a similar enthusiasm in Australia when we expand into Oceania later this year,” said HK Shin, President of CJ E&M Music Division. “KCON has started off 2017 extremely strong and we are excited to make this year the biggest and best year ever for our festival.”

KCON 2017 Mexico was also live streamed through KCON.TV – a short form video platform and online community dedicated to all things Korean entertainment. The live stream reached more than 200,000 viewers from both North and South America with over 30,000 concurrent viewers during the two-day event, providing the heat for K-POP outside of the arena in Latin America.

Specialty programming ranged from influencer-led experiences to those examining the unprecedented spread of Hallyu. Influencers included vlogger Latina Saram; Jun Sung Ahn, who created original content specifically for KCON LA; popular K-Pop reaction YouTubers JRE and KenroVlogs, who brought guests from the US to teach a dance workshop. Other special programs included “The Phenomenal Growth of International Entertainment,” which explored both the growth of individual stars and the explosive spread of Hallyu in the LATAM market.

“While many people think of just K-Pop but there is a whole lot more to Korean culture and it’s incredible!,” said KenroVlog, a Peruvian Youtube celebrity who is a big fan of K-Pop. “This was my first time and it certainly blew my mind along with thousands of Mexican fans.”

Thousands of fans from around the world submitted fan arts to share love and support for their favorite KCON 2017 Mexico artists through Mwave Fan Art Contest. The final round of voting for the Best Fan Art Drawing will begin on March 16 and end on March 20. Fans can vote and view all of the artwork onMwave, CJ Digital Music’s global platform dedicated to K-Pop.

The selection of vendor booths represented the best of Korean beauty, grocery products, K-Pop goods, and other accessories. Booths included the most popular Korean cosmetic retailers and brands such as CJ IMC and Tony Molly; K-Pop merchandise; and various Korean food choices such as Topokki, stir-fried soft rice cake, and Mandu, Korean dumpling.

Following KCON Mexico, KCON 2017 USA, the convention's flagship event,will take places in New York at the Prudential Center on June 23-24 and in Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center onAugust 18-20. For the latest KCON USA news, fans are invited to visit www.kconusa.com and follow @KCONUSA on Twitter, where artist line-up and other information are being announced. They can also join the conversation with #KCON17NY and #KCON17LA.​KCON is produced by CJ E&M, Asia’s leading content company, and its global music channel, Mnet.

ABOUT CJ E&M

CJ E&M is Asia’s leading content and media company headquartered in Seoul, Korea. It has five main business units - broadcast, film (CJ Entertainment), music, live entertainment and animation. Since 2011, CJ E&M has been contributing to promotion of Korean culture around the world, through the company's 'One Source, Multi-Content' strategy. As a trend leader in Asia, CJ E&M has produced and distributed various popular content, some of which include Asia’s largest music festival Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), leading Hallyu convention KCON, Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, record-breaking box office hits Roaring Currents (2014), Ode to My Father (2014) and Veteran (2015), along with sought-after television programs such as The Incomplete, Grandpas over Flowers and Reply 1988. With regional offices in Asia and the U.S., CJ E&M currently employs over 2,000 people worldwide, and is traded on KOSDAQ under the ticker 130960. For more information, please visit:http://en.cjenm.com.